Mira sat once again in the bed in a private room at the Riverview clinic after a long afternoon of healers working on mending her broken bones. She was exhausted but not sleepy and dinner was due to arrive in half an hour. That was not enough time for a nap and too much time to do nothing but think. She itched for something to do and looked around for something that might offer itself.

There was, remarkably, someone apparently in the window. His back was to it, but he was entirely too recognizable for his own good. Masks ultimately did the exact opposite of what they were intended for when you stick around for too long anyways. And as such, if the rest of him weren't enough of a giveaway, the back of his masked head would be. That mask and, for that matter, the entire form looked just like Skid. What was he doing here" Skid had mentioned wanting to chat, but that only explained 'here' in a general sense, not his current exact location outside the window.

Black, scaly knuckles tap-tap-tapped on the glass, and he crouched over to look around and in. His look seemed to ask if he could come in. Mira nodded and tried to give Skid directions for finding the hospital entrance and down hallways with hand motions. To her mind doors were for entering buildings and rooms. Yeah, that happened, right after he cracked the window and slid inside.

"You know, they should really keep bars on these things. Nefarious individuals could come through them without knocking first." And with that, he slipped onto the chair beside Mira's bed, and scooted it right on up to her. "And how are you feeling, Mira?"

"Are you trying to scare me?" Mira told herself that only Skid knew how to open unopenable windows, and she doubted bars would make a difference to him. No, she was perfectly safe at the hospital and they did have security guards, too. "I am getting to feeling better ever day. The doctors here are all miracle workers. How are doing Skid" You looked less than happy yesterday."

"Why would I try to scare you? I'm just saying, they could stand to make their windows more complicated." He set both hands up atop the covers of the bed, folded over one another. "I've looked less than happy for quite a while, now. But it's neither here nor there. This is about you. What's happened" I feel I've been gone far too long, and have come back at a rather trying time."

"I am sure the hospital will appreciate any contribution you'd like to make." Mira smiled imagining how Maranya might greet a delivery of decorative iron bars and a couple bags of quick drying cement. Then her mien sobered. She wondered why Skid should be less than happy, and for more than just a day. But he did say he didn't want to talk about that just now. "What happened is that I was attacked by someone who was paid to do so."

"You're kidding" It cost me so much in suck-up kisses to get to see you that my lips are numb." He grinned, and it faded just as quickly into the strange new normalcy. His comment drew a giggle from Mira. But she sobered just as quickly as Skid had. His eye, now more noticeable than in the Inn, was no longer red, but blue. "And who in their right mind would lay a finger on you? And what, exactly, did they do?"

"I don't know who would. The woman introduced herself as Terra. In hindsight I doubt that was her real name. And she did not say who paid her. What little I do remember her saying after she introduced herself makes no sense."

Skid listened with a slight, imperceptible frown until the end. "And what kinds of things did the doctors say happened to you?"

"They said I was poisoned, had multiple lacerations and puncture wounds, some minor internal injuries, and a long list of fractured and crushed bones." Mira went the short version of the list with a detached voice. She'd rather not think about all that.

His frown had deepened into something horrible by the time she finished, but it faded as he looked up from his hands. "Well, you're fine now, at least. And besides, now I know I wasn't the only one to take ill recently. My eye fell out, you know." Patting a lump he was fairly sure was a leg.

"Fell out, just like that' What happened?" That explained to some extend the difference in eyes color, but Mira was certain there was more to that story. She reached for his patting hand to give his fingers a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry to hear that you were ill."

"It....Rotted out. I had to have a new eye implanted altogether. My illness was....Not something I would like to speak of." He smiled in a strained, pained manner before straightening. "I'm very disappointed to find that someone such as you was turned upon by the vile things in this city."

"You are better now, too. The blue eye suits you." Mira nodded in sympathy and gave Skid's fingers another gentle squeeze. Disappointed was a mild word in comparison to deep frown she had observed on Skid earlier.

"The woman didn't pay for the rose she took from me basket either." To Mira that behavior was telling. Rhydin may house a number of less than savory characters, but it was extremely rare that someone tried to get away without paying. "In the last five years someone not paying only happened twice, and the first of them had been made to pay his copper by Kaja later that evening. Baker doesn't count."

Skid couldn't help it. He snerked. "I'm sorry, that was just really cute." A hand went up in defense. "It's serious, I know, but, still, being able to tell someone by their purchasing history?" He sighed, and then took an almost indecipherably less serious expression back up. "Were you to see this woman again, do you have a means by which to contact anyone immediately?"

"I hope to never see her again. But if she were to come in here, there would be plenty of people around to tell, and the same would hold true should I ever see her among the patrons in any of the places on my route." If she were to however see her on a street somewhere, finding someone trustworthy to tell quickly would be difficult.

A tut-tut finger ticked from one side to the other. "I said contact, not tell. Do you have a means by which to contact someone if you were to, say, find yourself alone when you came across her?" He began to rifle through his pouch as he asked, regardless of her answer.

"No." Mira didn't have any device that could do that nor did she have any command over even the smallest amount of magic.

"Well then, I've something for you. I got it from Chryrie, but she was being worrisome and forgot that she'd given me one already." He pulled out a pocket compact, a mirror inside with a little soft spongy surface on the opposite side. The outside was simple, elegant, black with a silver little Celtic loop knot design trailing it like an iris. "You just flip it open, think of who you need to contact, and it will put you through any magical or technological device they have on them, if any. You should get a small list of people who have such devices, so that you know you'll have someone to contact. For example, me. I'm sure Doc's got one of those selling phones, as well. The only drawback is that it uses its energy rather quickly. I'd guess you'd have maybe ten callings before it ran out of energy."

"Doc as in Maranya, and thinking is enough to make it work?" That sounded ever so easy. "It does look very pretty."

"Yes, Doc. And yes, just think. It's a very convenient, discreet little thing, isn't it?" He pulled out the other one, which was rectangular and sparkly black. "And, when all else fails, you've at least got a mirror on you."

"Thank you very much." Mira leaned toward Skid, hugged him, and smooched his masked cheek. "I didn't have a little portable mirror before either. Please tell Chryrie thank you from me, too."

Skid smiled, however slight, and laid his hand down over hers. "You're welcome. When you get out of here, we'll get lunch and reminisce, hm?" He snickered.

"That does sound fun. I'm looking forward to it, Skid." She gave Skid smile. Lunch with Skid should be fun even with some uncomfortable questions.

"Excellent. I've got to go now, but I look forward to seeing you well again." This time, he did use the door. "Goodbye for now, Mira." And the door clicked open for him to step through.

"Until soon, Skid." She smiled at the door as it closed behind Skid.